illo skill
Generate original print-style editorial illustrations for articles and
blogs, starring a recurring mascot that performs each idea. Each character
pack carries one of ten bundled looks (riso, blueprint, woodcut, pixel, clay,
manila, chalk, phosphor, enamel, gouache) or a custom style — default
Blot (a deadpan ink-drop), or design your own with the built-in character
builder. One-metaphor-per-image scenes with named + custom + derived palettes
and reference-image character consistency. Renders through three engine
backends: your Codex CLI (gpt-image-2) or Grok CLI (xAI) on your
subscription — free for subscribers, no API key — when one is installed and
logged in, or OpenRouter (model-selectable: Grok Imagine, Nano Banana
2/Pro, GPT-5.4 Image 2, …) as a direct pay-per-image backend. In Grok Bot
(Cursor's Grok Bot / the Grok desktop assistant), the skill uses Grok Bot's
built-in Grok image tool agent-side instead of requiring the Grok CLI or
OpenRouter, unless you explicitly choose an engine backend. Failed subscription
CLI renders fail closed unless --allow-paid-fallback explicitly permits
OpenRouter. Grok can't make transparent cutouts; those route automatically.
Hand it "we replatform with zero downtime" and you get the bridge being rebuilt under live traffic:
🌐 illo-skill.com — live examples, the character gallery, and copy-paste installs.
The skill itself lives in skills/illo/ — its
README is the full developer reference
(prerequisites, API-key setup, models & cost, everything below in detail).
Same idea, different voice — four of the ten bundled looks:
 |  |
| riso — the house default | clay — stop-motion plasticine |
 |  |
| phosphor — CRT trace on glass | blueprint — draftsman linework |
Install
Recommended: use your platform's native plugin or skill manager. These
lanes install the same illo skill, but they preserve the runtime's managed
update path. Use the generic npx skills installer only when your runtime
doesn't have a native lane yet.
| Platform | Install | Update |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Code | /plugin marketplace add tmchow/illo-skill then /plugin install illo@illo-skill | claude plugin update illo, or enable marketplace auto-update |
| Codex | codex plugin marketplace add tmchow/illo-skill then codex plugin add illo@illo-skill | codex plugin marketplace upgrade |
| Grok CLI | grok plugin marketplace add tmchow/illo-skill then grok plugin install tmchow/illo-skill --trust | grok plugin update illo |
| Grok Bot | paste the prompt below into Grok Bot. | paste the prompt again after updates |
| Gemini CLI | gemini extensions install https://github.com/tmchow/illo-skill | gemini extensions update illo |
| Copilot / GitHub CLI | gh skill install tmchow/illo-skill illo (cross-agent via --agent) | gh skill update illo |
| Hermes | hermes skills install tmchow/illo-skill/illo | hermes skills update illo |
| OpenClaw | openclaw skills install illo | reinstall with the same command |
| Cursor | npx skills add tmchow/illo-skill --skill illo (Cursor Marketplace listing pending review) | re-run the installer |
| Other agents / last resort | npx skills add tmchow/illo-skill --skill illo | npx skills update |
Grok Bot
Paste this into Grok Bot; it is not a terminal command for you to run yourself.
Install the illo skill and all community characters.
npx skills add tmchow/illo-skill --skill illo -g -y
Every lane installs the same skill; releases are tagged v<version> and
the version in every manifest is kept in lockstep with
skills/illo/SKILL.md by Release Please and CI.
Repo layout
The skill sits in skills/illo/, following the layout of the canonical
skill repos (anthropics/skills, openai/skills): a top-level skills/
folder, one directory per skill. It is deliberately not at the repo root —
installers copy the entire skill directory verbatim, so the skill dir holds
only what every install should ship. Docs-only images live in
_assets/illo/ (linked by raw URL), and repo meta stays at the root —
including the plugin manifests (.claude-plugin/, .codex-plugin/,
.cursor-plugin/, .grok-plugin/, gemini-extension.json) that make the
repo installable as a native plugin on each platform.
Companion repos
- tmchow/illo-characters — community character packs ("install the blip character").
License
MIT © Trevin Chow — see LICENSE and
skills/illo/NOTICE for attribution of the Blot character and
bundled artwork.